


2. Coffee Shop

by INeverHadMyInternetPhase



Series: Running Into You [2]
Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Fangirl Dan, Fluff, General Awkwardness, M/M, Non-youtuber Dan, literally pure fluff, youtuber Phil
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-01
Updated: 2016-04-01
Packaged: 2018-05-30 14:57:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6428848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/INeverHadMyInternetPhase/pseuds/INeverHadMyInternetPhase
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dan's working in a coffee shop while he studies at Manchester University. He still watches youtube in his spare time, of course - that isn't a habit he's likely to break any time soon. He gets a bit of a shock when AmazingPhil himself walks into his lowly little cafe on one of his busiest shifts.</p>
            </blockquote>





	2. Coffee Shop

**Author's Note:**

> Here is part 2 of my series about Fangirl!Dan meeting his favourite youtuber AmazingPhil in a variety of different and unlikely ways. This one is pure fluff, and it's a coffee shop AU (every fanfic writer is obligated to write at least 1, I think). Thanks for all the comments on the first part, they mean a lot! I hope you like this one too ^_^

**2\. Coffee Shop**

_She’s probably been having a bad day._

Dan tried to remind himself as he followed his boss round to the back of the bustling coffee shop. It was a busy day, and although there were four of them at work, they were still barely covering the lunchtime rush of stressed workers seeking their caffeine fix. So really, he couldn’t blame his manager for flipping out at him in front of the entire cafe just because he’d got one order slightly wrong.

Right?

She rounded on him the minute they were out of sight of the general populace. “Dan, what were you thinking?”

Dan held up a placating hand. “I swear, I didn’t mean...”

“I don’t _care_ what you meant, you made me look a complete fool!”

“I just missed the flavour shot...”

“I _don’t care_ , Dan. Get back out there. You’re on front of house until I say so.”

Dan gave an indignant snort. “But I’m due a break!”

“Something make you think I care?”

Dan held her gaze for a long moment before growling under his breath, turning on his heel and storming back out to the front. His coworker, Sally, caught his eye with a sympathetic smile, and Dan rolled his eyes back at her. He moved over to his place at the coffee machine, stuck serving orders for the next who-knew-how-long until the manager decided to take pity on him again.

At least it was Sally taking the orders today, so things wouldn’t be _as_ bad. If it had been Jeremy, Dan probaly would have walked out, need to fund his university education somehow be damned.

“One caramel macchiato for Phil when you’re done with that,” Sally called from the other side of the desk, and Dan raised a hand to let her know he’d heard. He finished up the hot chocolate he was in the process of making, and took it to the edge of the counter.

“Hot chocolate for Ali?”

A brown-haired girl who barely reached the edge of the counter trotted over and collected it with a big smile, but just as Dan reached down to hand it to her, someone else in the queue pushed their way to the front and knocked right into her. Her fingers slipped off the cup as she fell with a cry. The cup toppled over, all over the work station and dripping hot liquid onto Dan’s work apron. He jumped back with a shout, scalded.

A clamour arose from the customers, and the girl was crying, and Sally was shooting him a worried look, and Dan was dripping with hot liquid burning through his apron. Muttering a low curse under his breath, he went and retrieved a cloth, drying himself off as best he could. His left hand was definitely burned. No time to run it under a tap, though, as now he had to remake the hot chocolate for the crying girl, and the person who had pushed her in the first place had fucked off somewhere. Dan glared over at the door when he finally handed the cup to the girl.

When he finally moved onto the next order, he was stressed and upset. It didn’t help that caramel macchiato was his drink of choice, and it was more or less torture to have to make one that he couldn’t drink when he was dead on his feet and way past due a break. He mixed the drink together as quickly as he possibly could, checking the name on the receipt before printing out ‘Phil’ in his messy handwriting with his scalded left hand.

“Caramel Macchiato for Phil,” Dan called out, slamming it down on the counter perhaps a bit harder than was strictly necessary.

“Thanks,” a quiet, and weirdly familiar, voice answered him.

Dan froze.

A slender, pale hand appeared to scoop up the coffee mug, and Dan followed the movement up and up, taking in a plaid shirt, broad shoulders, and finally a _weirdly_ familiar face with a black fringe that Dan idolised and sparkling blue eyes that were smiling at him.

_AmazingPhil._

AmazingPhil was standing right in front of him.

Dan blinked, his eyes widening in shock. Phil arched a brow, apparently questioning why the weird skinny barista was openly gaping at him when he was quite obviously rushed off his feet with customers, and opened his mouth slowly. “Um. Are you ok?”

“What?” Dan’s voice sounded breathless. He glanced around, suddenly remembering the crowded coffee shop and catching the flustered stare of his coworker Sally. Dan’s eyes widened. “Oh! Yes. Working, that’s what I’m doing right now.”

Phil let out a chuckle. Dan jumped back, feeling heat rush to the back of his neck, and he fumbled with the hem of his apron quickly. What the hell did he say to his literal idol?

“Um. Have a nice ... coffee ... Phil.”

_Way to go, Dan._

Phil just laughed again, his eyes bright. “Um, thanks! I’ll go and sit, you look really busy.”

Dan just stared at him, until Phil gave a jaunty little wave and turned his back, going over to one of the few spare seats in a crowded corner of the cafe.

Dan watched him go with his stomach somewhere down in his shoes. His brain barely processed what had happened. Even as he watched, _AmazingPhil_ was taking a seat in a corner of the coffee shop where _Dan_ worked. His hair looked weird from the back. His shirt was typical Phil - in fact, Dan was positive he’d seen it in a video before - and he was wearing mismatched socks peeking out from his trainers. He had his phone out, leaning over it intently with his lips pursed.

Dan stared for another good minute before the rush of customers got to him again, and he had to go back to serving.

But _AmazingPhil was just sitting in the corner._

When Dan finally got a minute to catch his breath again, he looked straight over to the table in the corner, only to find it seating a young couple instead. Frantically, Dan scanned the rest of the coffee shop, still bustling with people, but there was no sign of AmazingPhil. He must have slipped out when Dan was busy working.

Dan did his best not to feel disappointed. He’d still _spoken_ to _AmazingPhil._ In fact, Dan was fairly certain their hands had touched when he handed Phil his drink.

Dan had _touched_ AmazingPhil.

Dan went about the rest of his shift with a smile on his face, wondering what the true inconveniences might be if he never washed his hand ever again.

\---

Dan was completely unsuspecting when AmazingPhil came in again.

The day was much quieter, with only a few quiet customers seated in the corners, and Dan was on his own behind the counter. He had a cloth out, carefully wiping down the counter, when the bell above the door sounded to announce the arrival of a new customer.

Dan put down his cloth, plastering his automatic smile on his face as he glanced up. “Hello, how can I ... help...”

He trailed off, eyes widening in shock, because _AmazingPhil was standing in front of him again._

This time, Phil was wearing his university hoody over his usual skinny jeans. His hair was a little windswept, his eyes a little dim. His expression was oddly heavy. When he caught sight of Dan staring at him, though, Phil’s lips quirked up just a little. “Oh. It’s you. Hello, again.”

Dan blinked rapidly. “Um. You remember me?”

“Sure.” Phil’s eyes ran down the length of his body slowly, and Dan did his level best not to visibly shiver. “I wouldn’t forget a face like yours.”

Dan glowed inwardly.

Outwardly, he tried to save face, managing a sound somewhere between a laugh and a snort. He shifted on his feet. “Well. Um. That’s ... nice?”

_Dammit, Dan, could you sound anymore flustered._

At Phil’s raised eyebrow, Dan spoke quickly and loudly, trying to move on and away from Phil’s intense gaze, still trained on Dan. “Um. So. Caramel macchiato, right?”

Phil’s brows rose. “You remember?”

“Sure.” Dan smirked a little. “I wouldn’t forget a face like yours, either.”

Much to Dan’s pleasure, Phil’s neck flushed a little. HIs eyes were intense - they were more blue in person, youtube really didn’t do them justice - as he fixed Dan with an interested gaze. Dan could feel a chill run down his spine, the delicate hairs on his arms standing up.

“It’ll just be a moment or two,” Dan spluttered, whirring on his feet to go and make the drink.

All the while making it, Dan was far too focused on the presence of Phil on the other side of the counter, just out of arms’ reach.

_AmazingPhil was on the other side of the counter._

_Dan was making a drink for AmazingPhil._

Dan shook his head, forcing his thoughts to remain focused rather than degenerate into fangirlish squeals in his head. He kept his face as smooth as he could, hoping above hope that Phil wouldn’t be able to spot any of his internal screeching. The _last_ thing he needed was to look like a total creeper in front of his favourite.

The drink got made, and Dan took it hastily over towards the counter, thrusting it towards Phil with his gaze fixed on the counter. A pale hand reached out to take the drink, and Dan stepped back.

He thought he was safe, until Phil’s gruff voice sounded suddenly. “Wait!”

“Huh?”

“You forgot to charge me.”

Dan blinked, spinning back around to see AmazingPhil still standing awkwardly by the counter, a slight smile turning up the corner of his mouth.

Dan swallowed. He stood, entranced, just staring at Phil for a long moment, until his words sunk in and Dan suddenly realised. “Fuck! Sorry.” He strode over to the counter, shaking his head. “And fuck it, I swore, sorry. And again. Um.”

A small laugh cut over his voice as Phil followed him up to the cash register. Phil was smiling brightly now. “It’s fine. I promise.”

Dan winced as he punched Phil’s order into the machine. “That’s £2.95. And sorry. I promise I _can_ be a functioning human some of the time.”

Phil let out another low chuckle at that. “Don’t worry. I once got licked in public, so you’re doing better than me.”

_Oh yeah, you spoke about that in a video._

Dan swallowed the words before they made it onto his tongue. He watched as Phil set his drink back on the counter, pulling out his wallet to count out the coins. He held his hand out to Dan, a smile back on his lips, brightening up his entire face.

Dan had to swallow again at the sight.

“You can keep the change,” Phil added softly as he dropped the coins into Dan’s hand. “And what’s your name? So I know if I ever come back.”

Despite Dan’s very best efforts, his voice cracked when he replied. “Dan. My name. It’s Dan.”

“Thanks, Dan.” Phil sent him a final sunny smile, picking his drink back up. “I hope I’ll see you again.”

Dan stayed behind the counter, watching Phil out of the door with his mouth hanging slightly open.

Once Phil was gone, Dan came back to himself and counted out the coins in his hand.

_Shit._ Phil left him a £5 tip. They were in _England_ \- he didn’t even need the tips.

Dan couldn’t help but smile as he pocketed the change, treasuring the fact that _AmazingPhil_ had complimented him.

And hoped to see him again.

\---

And see him again, he did.

Phil came back into the shop later that week, when it was busy again, with crowds of people out for lunch. The weather was sunny for once, lighting up the whole cafe from the wide, floor-to-ceiling windows covering the front wall. Dan was sweltering behind the counter. Sally was on duty with him again, and she had all her frizzy hair pulled back up in a ponytail, her face flushed from the steam coming off the machines.

Dan took pity on her and took over the drinks making, despite the fact he was supposed to be taking orders that day. Instead, he busied himself with the mugs and machines, the scent of coffee a pleasant accompaniment to his crazily busy day.

“Caramel Macchiato for Phil!”

Dan froze.

_It won’t be him._

Slowly, Dan turned on his heel, the colours of the coffee shop whirring past his eyes until he focused on the figure behind the counter. There, as plain as day, stood AmazingPhil, his gaze fixed knowingly on Dan.

Dan blinked several times.

“Hello? Earth to Dan?” Sally waved her hand in front of his face, forcing Dan to look away from Phil with a slight jump.

“Huh?”

“Caramel Macchiato?” Sally sent him a despairing look. “When you’ve got a chance, your highness?”

Dan made a face at her. He sent Phil a quick look as he turned back to the machine, seeing him just hiding a smile behind his hand. Dan’s own lips turned up as he grabbed a mug off the shelf.

He took his time making the drink, despite knowing that Sally would probably shout at him when the queue started backing up. Dan could feel Phil’s eyes trained on him from across the counter, just a short distance away.

When the drink was made, Dan carried it carefully over to the counter. He met Phil’s eyes with a small smile. “Caramel Macchiato for Phil?”

“That’s me,” Phil responded cheerily. “Thanks, Dan.”

“You remembered!”

“Of course.” Phil grabbed Dan’s wrist before Dan could pull away, and Dan tried his best not to squeal again. Goosebumps spread up his arm from where Phil was touching his wrist. There was a smile in Phil’s tone when he spoke again. “I wanted to ask you something.”

Dan tried to calm his heart rate down as he looked up to meet Phil’s eyes. “Yeah?”

“I was wondering. Um.” Phil’s voice squeaked a little, and he looked down, his fingers still resting gently around Dan’s wrist. “D’you wanna maybe come out with me sometime?”

Dan’s mouth ran dry.

Silence dragged while Dan struggled to get his head around those words. _Out_. Was Phil asking him out?

_Was AmazingPhil asking him out right now? Was that what was actually happening?_

“Um.” Phil’s voice brought Dan back to the present, his hand dropping from Dan’s wrist as he backed up a little. “Or, not. I mean. There’s no pressure, if I’ve read this wrong, I’m sorry...”

“No,” Dan hastened to reply, “No, no no no. No problem. At all.” He coughed, scrubbing at the back of his neck.

Phil let out a relieved breath. “So ... is that a yes?”

“Um. Yes.” Dan managed a smile. “Yes, that’s a yes. In awkward person speak.”

Phil released a loud laugh at that. The sound was so bright that Dan almost melted. “So can I get your number?”

Dan nodded his head, his smile growing wider. “Yes. Yes, you can.”

\---

Later that night, Dan was starting to have misgivings.

_AmazingPhil asked him out._ Yes, that was true. Objectively, a fact. It happened. There were witnesses. Dan could call Sally and get her to tell him he hadn’t hallucinated the whole thing (indeed, he already had). It happened.

But did he mean out as in a _date_?

Dan’s heart was already fluttering at the thought. He gnawed on his lower lip, trying not to get too far down the rabbit hole of circling thoughts, because _AmazingPhil could not be asking him out on an actual date._ Could he? Dan didn’t even know what Phil’s sexuality was.

...Ok, so when he was drooling over AmazingPhil videos, he might have been _praying_ that Phil had an attraction to tall skinny guys with lame emo hair, but that was just a pipe dream. Dan never thought he’d see AmazingPhil in real life, let alone get _asked out_ by him.

What was Dan supposed to do now?

He’d love to go on a date with Phil. Of course he would. Dan had literally _dreamed_ about that since he first discovered Phil’s videos. But it felt a bit ... off. After all, Phil didn’t even know that Dan knew about his youtube channel.

Would Phil even want to date a fan?

Dan’s stomach twisted. He needed to come clean. It wasn’t fair on Phil if Dan didn’t tell him that he knew who Phil was, no matter how awkward things might get.

Dan tried not to think about Phil running away from him as soon as he realised Dan was a fan.

Dan settled himself down into his sofa, chewing on his lip as he extracted his phone from his pocket. The earlier message from Phil was still sitting innocently in his inbox: _Hey, it’s Phil’s messenger pigeon sending you his number ^_^._

Dan did his best to ignore the nerves circling in his stomach as he typed out a response. _Hi Phil, it’s Dan. Can I call you? Um. There’s something you should probably know._

There. Message sent.

Dan clutched his phone in his hand, trying to focus on the TV blaring away in the background as the silence stretched on. But then, just a couple of moments later, his phone started buzzing away incessantly.

Not with a text - a call. From Phil.

Dan’s mouth ran dry. Pulse fluttering in his throat, Dan hit the accept button and lifted his phone carefully to his ear. “Hello?”

“Dan!” Phil’s cheery voice sounded down the line, and Dan repressed a shudder at the flashback to the countless videos he’d watched listening to that same voice. “Are you ok?”

“Yeah. yeah, I’m fine.”

“Did I weird you out earlier?” Phil’s tone sounded genuinely worried. “Because I’m sorry if I’ve come on too strong, you can tell me to back off and I promise I won’t be offended...”

“No, no, it’s nothing like that.” A smile was tugging unbidden at Dan’s lips. “You’ve been brilliant.”

“Oh.” There was a pause. “That’s great, because I really want to go out with you.”

Dan allowed a litle ripple of warmth to flood his chest at that. He hummed, content. “I’d love that, Phil.”

“Yay!”

“But,” Dan hastened to add, “There’s something you should know first. About me.”

“...Ok?” Phil sounded curious.

Dan licked his lips. The fingers of his free hand picked at a loose thread on his sofa, the phone at his ear feeling heavy in his grip. “I just. Um. Ok, maybe I haven’t been entirely honest with you?”

“Dan, that’s ok,” Phil soothed. “What is it? You can tell me.”

Dan let out a breath. “Promise you won’t be weirded out?”

“I promise.”

“Ok. So.” Dan paused for a second, gathering up his courage. “I kind of. Um. I know that you’re AmazingPhil.”

A surprised silence echoed down the line.

“Like, from youtube. And stuff.” Dan licked his lips.

“You know about my youtube channel?”

“Yeah.” Dan let out a slightly embarrassed laugh. “Actually, I’ve been watching you for ages.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“That must be why you looked so shocked when you first saw me!” Phil’s tone almost sounded ... triumphant? “I wondered what that was about.”

“Ah. Yeah. Huh.” Dan grimaced, relieved that Phil couldn’t see his expression just then. “Sorry about that. I just kind of stared at you, didn’t I?”

“You did.” Phil let out a chuckle. “That makes sense now. Can’t say I was upset, though.”

“No?”

“No, it’s nice to get the attention of random attractive strangers.”

Heat crept its way up the back of Dan’s neck.

“Anyway,” Phil continued conversationally, “D’you still want to go on a date with me? If that was all you had to tell me, I mean.”

Dan blinked. Several times. “You mean - you - you still want to date me?”

“Dan, I’m fairly sure I will _always_ want to date you.”

Dan’s heart flipped. He couldn’t keep the smile off his face this time. “Oh. That’s cool. Yes, I would love to.”

“Awesome. Are you free this weekend?”

“I am now.” Dan huffed out a relieved sigh. “Honestly, I was convinced you wouldn’t want to date a fan.”

Phil’s tone grew a little more amused. “Fan? Are you one of the ones who fires replies at my twitter as soon as I do anything?”

“Um.” Dan coughed. “...Maybe.”

Phil laughed again. “You’ll have to tell me your handle so I can follow you.”

“I might pop up in your notifications quite a lot.”

“Even better. I always knew youtube would get me a date.”

Dan snorted. “Is that why you present to the camera so much?”

“Hey,” Phil berated him lightly, “You clearly love it.”

Dan didn’t exactly deny that statement.

“So.” Phil hummed down the line, his tone warm. “Shall we meet outside your coffee shop at 6pm on Saturday?”

Dan allowed himself a giant grin as he replied. “That sounds perfect.”

A date with actual AmazingPhil.

Maybe some dreams really do come true.

**Author's Note:**

> If you're interested in the other prompts I'll be writing for this series, it's up on my tumblr blog over at ineverhadmyinternetphase(.)tumblr(.)com/runningintoyou


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